Chapter 9 Clapper sound

For more than a year, Mrs. Bangzi participated in various levels of "live learning and practical lecture meetings", from the commune to the county, and from the county town to the city where the prefectural committee is located. Later, she was selected by the prefectural committee to participate in the tour Members of Yongtuan, go everywhere to show their experiences.I can't remember exactly which counties she has been to, and it is even more difficult to say which factories, schools, shops and communes she has been to.The general impression is that wherever we go, there are gongs and drums, firecrackers, red flags and large slogans, and the welcoming scenes are warmer and grander than the other, as if there is a secret competition.Wherever he went, there was warm applause, smiling faces all over the stage, and welcome speeches from many leaders whose names he couldn't remember, sincere and humble.Wherever he went, there were seven dishes and eight bowls, fat ones, thin ones, roasted ones, spicy ones, sweet ones, foreign ones and earthy ones poured onto the dining table, as if they were competing in secret.

The old lady Bangzi has only been to Shilibao in her life, and she has never been to the county town once. This time, she was an eye-opener. The delicacies she has tasted... Her heart has also become broadened, and there is no need to care about the old man with a stubborn head. What has he seen before? As soon as she returned to Bangzijing, the old lady of Bangzi suddenly felt that the small river between Nanyuan and Beiling was too narrow, and the streets and alleys of Bangzijing Village were too dirty. Dirty, what did the five types of molecules do?The regime given to them to sweep the streets every morning had apparently been lax in her absence.She went to find the cadres, the militia company commander went to buy grain somewhere on the north bank of the Weihe River, and the production team leader went to buy fertilizer for the team.

Do you want to go to the branch secretary's house?While she was away, the commune sent people to rectify and elected the branch committee of the Bangzijing Party, and Hu Changhai was appointed branch secretary.She didn't want to go to his house, at least she didn't have to go to him as soon as she got back, so as to give the impression that she was going to pay homage to him.The old lady Bangzi has seen all kinds of big leaders, shook hands with the secretary of the prefectural party committee, had her photo taken, had dinner, and the secretary of the prefectural party committee put vegetables on her plate!The secretary of the county party committee helped her into the car!What level of cadre is Hu Changhai?He should have come to report to her as soon as she returned to the village.Although he is the branch secretary, she is the representative of the provincial "Accumulation Representative Association".

The old lady Bangzi felt that it was right not to pay homage to Hu Changhai, so she turned around from the village. The trees, houses, dung piles and firewood stacks in the whole village were both familiar and unfamiliar.When the commune members saw her, some walked away from a distance, and some greeted her plainly, and then walked away listlessly.The old lady Bangzi didn't care much. What kind of world have these peasants who only know how to earn work points have experienced?She may or may not know that the members of Bangzijing Village mainly rely on the farmers on the north bank of the Weihe River for their food throughout the year. To use a naughty saying, the household registration is in Bangzijing, and the food relationship has long been transferred to Weibei.

When Mrs. Bangzi passed by the door of the landlord Hu Zhenwu's house, she saw groups of women and dolls in the yard of the house. Some people came out and some people went in.She couldn't help being surprised, what are so many commune members doing around the class enemy's house?The landlord elements are too rampant, dare to bring so many poor and lower-middle peasants into the house, what the hell are they doing?She walked straight over. "Ha! Director Huang is here to see his new wife!" As soon as Mrs. Bangzi walked to the door, a woman with sharp eyes and quick mouth shouted loudly, and she understood what was going on.She stopped in a hurry, would she go in or not?People order a daughter-in-law for their son, so why go in by themselves?Thinking about it again, during the meeting of the superiors, the leaders repeatedly emphasized that class struggle exists everywhere, and weddings and funerals are even less peaceful, not to mention that Hu Zhenwu himself is a landlord!Thinking of this, she decided: she should go in and see what happened.

"Director, you're back." Hua'er, the accountant of the brigade, came out of the door, and greeted her in a hurry. "What are you doing in such a hurry?" Mrs. Bangzi asked. "I'm going to open a letter of introduction." Hua'er said in a businesslike manner. "Who do you write a letter of introduction to?" "Send Brother Jiefang a letter of introduction. He and his wife will go to the commune tomorrow to get a marriage certificate. We are in a hurry to get a letter of introduction from the brigade!" The old lady Bangzi closed her mouth, looked left and right, followed Hua'er to the alley away from Hu Zhenwu's house, and asked in a low voice, "Have you checked?"

"Both of them are over the age of late marriage, so there is no more censorship!" "Where is the woman from?" "Northern Shaanxi. Poor peasants." Hua'er said impatiently, "Women's qualifications will be checked by the commune. Our brigade is only responsible for checking the men." "How can a poor peasant girl marry a landlord's son?" Mrs. Bangzi stared at Hua'er and asked, "Have you thought about it?" "It's consensual!" Hua'er was annoyed, "I don't care." "You don't care?" Mrs. Bangzi repeated Hua'er's words, with a stronger tone, "Do you know, what are you holding in your hand?"

"Zhang Zi." Hua'er said, "official seal." "The seal of the poor and lower-middle peasants!" Mrs. Bangzi corrected, "How can you lose your vigilance?" "The children of the landlord's family have to marry a daughter-in-law! You can't become a monk!" Hua'er said unconvinced, "Don't be suspicious anymore!" "I didn't say he was not allowed to get married!" The old lady Bangzi didn't relax, "Strict censorship is required!" "Okay! Director Huang, don't worry about me, go to the review yourself!" Hua'er said annoyedly, "When will you finish the review and pass the test, I will issue a letter of introduction."

"I just want to censor!" The old bangzi stepped on the floor without wavering, "You tell Jiefang and that woman to come to the office." "What's your name?" "Lan Lingling." "Where are you from?" "Northern Shaanxi. Lanjiamao." "What are you doing here?" "Marry him..." "Why don't you find someone in northern Shaanxi?" "There is no food locally. I want to settle in a place that produces food." "The revolutionary situation in northern Shaanxi is very good! Why do you say there is no food to eat?"

"My family eats chaff. If you don't believe me, come and have a look with me." "What's the composition of your family?" "Poor peasants." "Do you know the ingredients of his family?" "I know—the landlord. When he came to my house, the first time we met, he made it clear to me." This poor peasant's girl... Mrs. Bangzi deeply regrets that she has a round face and bright eyes, but she is so hopeless!Seeing such a good-looking poor peasant girl being brought into the house by the landlord's son, she felt uncomfortable, so she patiently advised, "Have you thought about it carefully? It's a lifelong event!"

"I've thought about it, my family has discussed it." Lan Lingling did not leave a single gap in her words, showing a determined look, "I can see that he is honest and treats me well. His father wears a 'hat', That's his father..." The old lady Bangzi was discouraged, and even felt that this poor peasant girl who was willing to join the landlord's family was too spineless.She said to Jiefang who stood blankly aside: "You two go back first. The letter of introduction cannot be issued now, and we will discuss it after studying at the cadre meeting." "I told the branch secretary." Liberation was in a hurry, fearing that the daughter-in-law would have another accident, he hurriedly explained, "He agreed! He said that all these matters will be handled by the accountant, and there is no need to find other cadres." "I didn't say that I disagreed. I have to study and study. I can't make the final decision alone." The old lady Bangzi felt even more unhappy when she heard that Jiefang had approached Hu Changhai. She said coldly, turned her face again, and told Shaanxi Miss Bei said, "Think about it again..." Jiefang led Lingling and walked home.The two of them truthfully narrated the process of Granny Bangzi's examination of them, how people asked, and how she and he answered... The liberated mother was so moved that she burst into tears.Before the two children finished talking, she couldn't bear it any longer, pulled the bell, and hugged the girl with a blunt northern Shaanxi accent. The wrinkled cheeks of the village wife in her fifties were pressed tightly against her. Seeing the shiny black hair of the unmarried daughter-in-law, she even began to sob. Ever since Hua'er, the accountant, came to inform Jiefang and Lingling to come to the office and accept the scrutiny of Mrs. Bangzi, the mother's heart of Jiefang's mother froze, good or bad is unpredictable!It is almost entirely possible that there is more than good luck!She couldn't sit still in the room, she couldn't stand firmly, she went in and out, flustered, as if she was going crazy.Lingling's answer was just right, what a girl she is!She felt that the heart frozen in her chest was suddenly relieved, and she hugged the girl from northern Shaanxi tightly, her lovely future daughter-in-law! During the "Four Cleanups" movement, her man, Hu Zhenwu, turned from a Communist Party leader to a landlord overnight.How much torture she has suffered, not to mention, she is already in her fifties.What worries her day and night is that her son Jiefang has grown to twenty-eight years old and cannot find a wife. Which poor peasant woman would like to come into her house?It was so easy to ask someone to introduce this girl in the mountainous area of ​​northern Shaanxi... If the old lady Bangzi scares her away with a stick, her son Jiefang may become a bachelor!In that case, she could really go crazy.Now, such a disaster can be avoided, even though the letter of introduction has not yet been obtained, and even though the old lady Bangzi said that she still needs to "study and study", she feels that her heart is at ease. The lovely girl from northern Shaanxi has brought her too much joy. Hu Zhenwu knocked off the cigarette ash, and let out a long breath. This girl is comforting enough to eliminate the disgust of the old lady.He glanced emotionally at the moving scene of his wife hugging his future daughter-in-law, folded his hands behind his back, and walked out the door with confidence.He has developed the habit of not speaking. He is a landlord.During the "Four Clean-ups" movement launched in early 1966, he went from being a member of the Communist Party in Bangzijing to an enemy of the people. Sweeping the streets for free, doing the dirtiest and heaviest jobs with the lowest wages, but sternly refusing to plead guilty, only saying that he has made mistakes, but refusing to admit that he is a landlord who exploits and oppresses the masses, even if he does not grow his hair The bald head was beaten until Yita was attached to Yita, but his mouth was clenched tightly. He went to work silently, finished work silently and returned home, sat in the shade of the yard and smoked a cigarette, and never took a step out of the gate without incident.The old lady Bangzi and the militia company commander supervised his every move, farting loudly, and she also suspected that he was about to become arrogant.He can go from morning to night without saying a word.Whether it is a great happy event or a deep disaster, he keeps silent and doesn't panic when things happen.Who would know that this man whose appearance is as hard as a piece of steel is bleeding all day long in his heart!The Bangzijing Brigade, which has just recovered from three years of difficult life, is now in the hands of the gang of Bangzi Granny, and is as poor as it was during the three years of difficult life!The serious disaster he brought to the family and the children bit his father's heart day and night... Faced with this already very sad happy event, why should he be happy?Seeing his wife holding the girl from northern Shaanxi bursting into tears, he really couldn't bear to watch it again! People say that Hu Changhai turned a blind eye when he was branch secretary, but Hu Changhai himself said that both of his eyes were closed. The problem is precisely: out of sight, out of mind!A Communist Party member who had been working for the interests of the Party and the masses in Bangzijing Village from dawn to dusk for 20 years forced himself to tolerate many unbearable things happening in front of his eyes.How many times, he couldn't help but want to stand up, just three or five sentences (it's unnecessary if there are too many), to refute the nonsense words of the clapper old lady, think about it and give up, and sigh: alas!Why bother! He couldn't bear what happened before him.It has been a month since Mrs. Bangzi got stuck on Liberation's marriage introduction letter. That girl from northern Shaanxi is really nice, so she stayed at Hu Zhenwu's house.He wanted to see how far Mrs. Bangzi would make this matter of public dissatisfaction, so he endured it and waited.What he couldn't bear was that the old lady Bangzi chased him to his house and questioned him about how the landlord's son tricked the poor peasant's daughter into being his wife. "The landlord's son ran around everywhere and went to northern Shaanxi twice. Did you ask for leave?" The old lady Bangzi was aggressive as soon as she opened her mouth. "The leave is for the captain." Hu Changhai said lightly, "I don't care about the members' leave!" "He kidnapped a daughter-in-law from northern Shaanxi, did he ask you for instructions?" "Please tell me what to do about getting engaged and marrying a daughter-in-law!" Hu Changhai wanted to get angry when he heard it, he was too lenient!He forced himself to maintain a calm tone, and said, "He is engaged to a wife! You can't just call it 'abduction'." "How can a poor peasant woman be willing to marry a landlord?" The brows of the old lady Bangzi were tightly frowned, "I think there is Mada!" "Jiefang is a member of the commune, not a landlord. The 'hat' is on his father's head, not Jiefang." Hu Changhai's voice was not high, but his tone was not soft, and he kept correcting the conceptual confusion in the old lady's words. "The daughter of a poor peasant cannot marry him; what do you say if a girl from a landlord's family marries him? I'm afraid it will be said that they are stinky again... The sons of the landlord's family... can only cut off their children and grandchildren!" "Anyway...seeing a class sister being corrupted and drawn over by the enemy, we can't ignore it." The old lady Bangzi knew in her heart that Hu Changhai favored liberation, so she said forcefully, "The party branch must not stop class struggle!" "There is no provision in the Marriage Law that children of landlords are not allowed to marry poor peasants!" Hu Changhai also became tougher, "This matter is not class struggle, I am not sure yet! If there is any responsibility, I will bear it." .” "I think it's a new trend of class struggle!" Granny Bangzi didn't want to dwell on it any longer.She has an anxious personality, and she can't wait to procrastinate and dawdle.Hearing that Hu Changhai was going to take responsibility, she really wanted to expose his cover-up of class enemies; when she got to the point of speaking, she detoured and criticized education instead, "This time, I have a meeting at the prefectural committee. The leaders have repeatedly emphasized that the class struggle..." Hu Changhai lit his cigarette pipe, and an old bangzi lady conveyed to him the speech she had heard from the leader.He thought it was funny, let them come to Bangzijing Village, live there for three years and two months, and see what the commune members eat, and he will know that hunger is ten times worse than the landlord Hu Zhenwu!Breaded grain on the black market sells for thirty-eight cents a catty. Let's see how the sun and the moon are arranged for the farmers?Where is the energy to engage in struggle... The urgent problem now is how to get this confident woman away, so as not to let her be liberated and wash away the daughter-in-law, so that it will not bring disaster to Hu Zhenwu's family.He held back his temper and explained kindly: "Liberation is already twenty-six or eight years old! Don't say his mother and father are in a hurry, the township party members are all worried about this marriage for the baby! If we make this marriage blind Let’s not talk about liberating ourselves, the township party members will scold us as cadres..." "You are afraid of being scolded, but I am not!" The old lady Bangzi said without hesitation, "The leader of the prefectural committee said that we must fight against the ideas of the democrats..." "I agree to whatever 'pai' I am." Hu Changhai smiled, "It's just... this marriage... we'd better not ask any more questions." "I will take care of it to the end!" the old lady Bangzi said, unequivocally, "If you don't care, I will call her hometown in northern Shaanxi in the name of the poor association and ask the county to take back their 'blind flow' population!" "I don't agree!" Hu Changhai couldn't bear it any longer when he heard that, he stood up abruptly, and dropped the cigarette pouch in his hand on the table with a "slap", his voice trembling, "You are not qualified to represent Bangzijing! I am qualified to call Shanbei! I am still the party secretary!" The old lady Bangzi was really startled, and was stunned for half a minute.Usually, no matter what meeting is held, she is the one who has the final say. He just squats in the corner and smokes, leaving a pile of black soot on the ground before leaving.He did not object to all her opinions on Bangzijing's work, and it was even more difficult to see him getting angry.Mrs. Bangzi fully confirmed his views on wearing panties with the landlord Hu Zhenwu, and said even more proudly: "Okay! Party secretary, take everything you said today to the commune, and let the commune party committee review it! "After that, the old lady Bangzi turned around and walked out of the door angrily. "Go to Beijing to file a complaint!" Hu Changhai became even more furious when he heard the old lady Bangzi's reassurance.The branch secretary, who usually had his eyes closed, now opened his eyes wide with anger, breathing out fire.He jumped over the threshold of the back room, stood in the courtyard, and taunted loudly at the back of the clapper old lady who was about to walk out of the street, "That wicked woman has been arrested! You can't be found..." Hu Changhai's wife was guarding the grain outside the door, cleaning and drying. Hearing the shout, she hurried into the yard: "Are you crazy?" "Too much deceit!" Hu Changhai was still angry, and completely forgot what his wife had told him, "This bastard..."